Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi (SP)

Udupi, Jun 27: Udupi regional transport office (RTO), which was among the regional transport offices which brought huge revenue to the government, suffered a loss of about Rs 13 crore on account of lockdown.

The RTO here also used to get credit for performing exceedingly well in reaching the annual revenue target. But because of lockdown which extended for two months, registration of vehicles was at the rock bottom. Therefore, in all possibilities, this RTO may not be able to reach the annual target this year. It had reached a revenue figure of Rs 11.2 crore (95 percent of the target in April 2019) and Rs 10.82 crore (94 percent of target) in April 2020.

Udupi RTO (file photo)

But during April 2020, the revenue collection stood at only Rs 19.06 lac (1.64 percent). In May, the collection was 5.12 percent of the target. This happens to be the lowest revenue collection in the history of Udupi RTO.

In April 2019, 1,122 vehicles were registered and 2,288 vehicles were registered in May. During this April, only 155 vehicles were registered and the figure went up to 1,233 in May. During the corona-affected two months, there has been 80 percent shortfall in vehicle registration. Naturally, revenue collection has also been adversely affected.

In 2018-19, the RTO here had achieved 96.5 percent of targeted revenue by collecting Rs 135.11 crore. In the year 2019-20, collection of Rs 124 crore (87.86 percent) was achieved. For the year 2020-21, target of Rs 140.4 crore has already been set. Taking this target into account, the collection during April and May should have been Rs 18 crore but the actual collection has been Rs 5.31 crore.

As corona affects have not yet come down, it is difficult to reach the target in the coming months too. Therefore, the Udupi RTO is bound to face reverses in achieving target next year. Moreover, as per the government order, registration of BS-IV vehicles has been stopped. This will also affect revenue to some extent, said RTO official Ramakrishna.